Contents

Harpending attempts to interpret genetic and morphometric variation within and between human populations with mathematically based models, examining hypotheses such as population growth, divergence, and gene flow. In The 10,000 Year Explosion, which he co-authored with Gregory Cochran, Harpending suggests a common belief that human genetic adaptation stopped 40,000 years ago is incorrect and that humans evolved increasingly rapidly in response to the new challenges presented by agriculture and civilization. The result was accelerating evolution which has varied according to new niches or environments that particular populations inhabit. Harpending is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

The final chapter of The 10,000 Year Explosion expands on their paper from the Journal of Biosocial Science[2] on the issue of Ashkenazi Jewish intelligence. Harpending and Cochran argue the cause of Ashkenazim having higher mean verbal and mathematical intelligence than other ethnic groups (as well as having a relatively high number of genetic diseases, such as Tay-Sachs Disease, Canavan, Niemann-Pick, Gaucher, Familial Dysautonomia, Bloom Syndrome, Fanconi anemia, Cystic Fibrosis and Mucolipidosis IV) is due to the historically isolated population of Jews in Europe.[3]